Review: Acer TravelMate P645

Introduction and design

When you're looking for a business laptop, you know exactly what you want. The notebook needs long battery life and the features to get you up-and-running wherever you are and whenever you need it. For these reasons, the Acer TravelMate P645 is a fine choice.

A good business notebook also needs to be compact and light, so that you barely notice it in your bag. At the same time, the machine must be able to withstand getting jostled around a bit. And for that, the TravelMate P645 is suitable as well.

Finally, this laptop needs to be affordable enough that you can write it off, put it on the company card or buy a whole fleet of them for your team. And this Acer laptop is cheaper than much of the competition, including the HP ZBook 14 and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon.

The bottom line is that a business laptop needs to excel at the right things, and to hell with all the bells and whistles of other rigs. Besides security, that is – and this laptop does include some serious security features.

Pull my finger

Like its competitors, the TravelMate P645 features a fingerprint reader. This is becoming standard for enterprise laptops, though the TravelMate's Trusted Platform Module 1.2 sensor is located strangely in between its trackpad buttons.

It would have made more sense for these buttons to be bigger and put the sensor off to the side, but oh well. Regardless, for a laptop that may both travel the world with you and contain important trade secrets, the user's extra security is invaluable.

If you want to use the fingerprint reader to log in to Windows, you'll have to go through a rather painful registration process using Acer ProShield, the manufacturer's baked-in security software.

It will take some practice to get the app to register your fingerprints at first; you can't move your finger across it too quickly or too slowly. But once the software does, the TravelMate is good at recognizing them again. And you can register multiple fingers – you know, in case one or two get lost.

The ProShield software suite also provides a secure hard drive partition that can be password and fingerprint-locked, let you enable and disable specific hardware ports, alter the laptop's component boot order and more. It's a pain to use, as ProShield settings can supersede Windows settings, and it's sometimes tough to know which program is in charge. (For example, when setting or changing your Windows 7 log-in password.) But it's not a bad tool to have on your side once you get it working.

The TravelMate also has special tools for IT managers, including Acer Office Manager and Intel vPro Management.

Tough, but flawed

Design-wise, the TravelMate is everything you want in a work computer: light, compact, sleek, unassuming, practical, attractive and utilitarian all at once. As thin as it is, the TravelMate also feels reliable, and components ranging from the touchpad and mouse buttons to the screen hinges all feel sturdily in place.

There's no flimsiness to this laptop, and it seems like it can really live up to its name. The lid itself is made from light-but-durable carbon fiber, while the palm rest and base is magnesium-aluminum that will feel cool under your palms.

The keys are quiet and feel strong as well, with very little action and thus less room for malfunction or for debris to get jammed underneath. (Though, the chiclet keys can be removed at will as well just in case.)

This full keyboard is also backlit, though there's only one brightness setting, and it's supposedly spill-resistant, though for obvious reasons I didn't test this. Important functions like brightness, volume and mute are all located conveniently.

However, it should be noted that the icons for "brightness up" and "brightness down" were placed on the wrong keys – left and right arrows, respectively, while it should be the other way around. The keys still function as you'd expect, just with the wrong images on them.

A more glaring issue is the fact that the Synaptics touchpad's horizontal scrolling never worked, even after several minutes of fiddling with various settings. That's an issue that might take more troubleshooting to overcome. Finally, it's worth noting that the laptop's speakers are located on the bottom, which is obviously less than ideal.

Specifications and performance

If the Acer TravelMate P645's design is impressive, then its insides surely match. Intel's Core i7 processor is a solid chip to base a machine like this around, and 8GB of memory – or 12GB, if you choose to upgrade – is nothing to complain about.

The TravelMate's ports are all conveniently located on the left and right sides, including two USB 3.0 ports on the right and a third on the left. Meanwhile, this laptop excels in the important category of portability.

At 12.9 x 9.3 x 0.81 inches (W x D x H) and just 3.31 pounds, it's both thinner and lighter than the HP ZBook 14, though not as compact as the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Still, the differences are relatively small, and few will complain about the weight of the TravelMate in a bag or under an arm.

This is the Acer TravelMate P645 configuration sent to TechRadar:

Spec sheet

• CPU: 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-4500U (dual-core, 4MB cache, up to 3GHz with Turbo Boost)


• Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 8750M (2GB DDR3 VRAM)


• RAM: 8GB DDR3 SDRAM


• Screen: 14-inch, 1920 x 1080, IPS, (16:9 ratio)


• Storage: 256GB SSD


• Ports: 3 USB 3.0, HDMI-out, VGA, Ethernet, headphone jack, mic jack


• Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC


• Battery: 4850mAh


• Camera: 720p webcam with dual microphones


• Features: TravelMate Trusted Platform Module 1.2 fingerprint reader


• Weight: 3.31 pounds (1.52kg)


• Size: 12.9 x 9.3 x 0.81 inches (328.5 x 235.5 x 20.8 mm) (W x D x H)

This configuration isn't the absolute top-of-the-line for the TravelMate – as I said previously, the RAM can go a bit higher to 12GB. But it gets cheaper as well: you can order a unit with a weaker Core i5 chip, a 1366 x 768 display, and other downgraded specs, starting at $949 (about £560, AU$1,020).

For a few hundred dollars more, it's probably worth getting the upgraded specs, but that obviously depends on your budget, how much power you need, and how many you're ordering.

Meanwhile, another highlight of the TravelMate configuration I reviewed is its 1080p display. The screen is crisp and bright, and it features an attractive, anti-glare matte finish. That makes it harder to smudge and easier to see in all kinds of conditions, a welcome advantage.

However, the display's small size and dense resolution can present problems. For example, reading text in Google Chrome at its default level is straining, and adjusting the system's magnification through the control panel doesn't change the way websites are displayed, at least in Windows 7.

Operating under stress

It should be noted as well that the TravelMate can be ordered with one of several different versions of Windows, from Windows 7 Professional 64-bit to the more modern (but oftentimes more frustrating) Windows 8.1. This option is much appreciated, and no doubt some users are happy to choose the older but more reliable Windows 7, especially considering the laptop's lack of a touchscreen.

Unfortunately the laptop also comes packed with annoying software that will pester you for registrations and updates, including Norton, McAfee and the aforementioned Acer ProShield.

Although it can be useful, ProShield can prove annoying, especially as it produces new, never-before-seen pop-ups even days into using the laptop. These even feature the irksome "remind me later" button rather than a permanent way to dismiss them, only increasing the frustration.

Another bummer: over my several days of using the TravelMate, I experienced no less than three crashes, twice from simply closing the laptop and opening it back up later and once during actual use. For the first two, the computer was plugged in, while it was unplugged but still had 20% of its battery remaining for one crash.

These aberrations sent the TravelMate to Windows 7's white-on-black safe mode boot screen, and from there the computer once even got stuck in a loop, unable to restore my previous session but trying over and over until I intervened. It's worrying that this might occur in the middle of a presentation or while working on a local spreadsheet.

Benchmarks

Unsurprisingly, the TravelMate's benchmark performance relative to some of its rivals correlates inversely with its weight and other dimensions. In other words, the TravelMate scored better than the lighter Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon in most tests, while losing to the heavier HP ZBook 14 in the same ones.

It's clear that you're trading a bit of portability for better performance here, and considering how light and compact the TravelMate remains in spite of that, I'd say that's a fair transaction.

• 3DMark: Ice Storm: 39,323; Cloud Gate: 5,561; Fire Strike: 1,158; Sky Diver: 2,549


• Cinebench: CPU: 2.6 cb; Graphics: 42.42 fps


• PCMark 8 Creative: 2,281; Work: 2,994


• PCMark 8 Battery Life: 3 hours and 34 minutes

Meanwhile, the TravelMate actually beat both of those competitors in two categories: graphics performance and battery life. The latter will no doubt prove important, though so might the former, depending upon the type of enterprise user – say, heavy users of programs like AutoCAD.

That battery life is advertised at around 8 hours, and for users on a flight (or other long-use, no-power-plug scenarios) who are just using a text editor, spreadsheets and other business applications, that may prove accurate. But with normal to heavy use, the benchmark test's estimation of three and a half hours proved more accurate, though still slightly off the mark.

Writing in WordPad while streaming songs through Spotify, browsing the web in Chrome, and downloading a few games with Steam with the brightness and volume at their maximums drained the TravelMate's battery in around four hours. That's fairly impressive, when you consider everything that was going on, and it makes me think the battery might actually last much longer than eight hours with more conservative use.

Verdict

The Acer TravelMate P645 is a sleek, attractive, sturdy, and fully-featured enterprise laptop well-suited to the workplace and business trips alike.

It even compares favorably with rivals like the HP ZBook 14 and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Acer's is lighter, but less powerful, than the former while heavier but better-equipped than the latter. And it beats both in the important area of battery life, which is no small advantage.

We liked

Again, you can't argue with that battery life, which is acceptable with normal use and even better if you're trying specifically to keep the computer alive as long as possible.

The TravelMate is as attractive as an enterprise laptop can get while still remaining all-business on the outside. It's inconspicuous without being ugly. And added security features like the Acer ProShield suite and fingerprint reader are easily appreciated.

Back to its design, the materials that Acer used and the TravelMate's build quality feel pleasant overall, from the low-action keyboard to the responsive mouse buttons. Finally, that you can order the laptop with Windows 7 (if Windows 8.1 isn't your thing) is a major bonus.

We disliked

I had trouble with the TravelMate's Synaptics touchpad, though I've also used far worse inputs. And it's not ideal that the speakers are located on the bottom.

Even worse are the pestering pop-ups and occasional crashes. Those could be due to any number of factors, but it's irksome to think the laptop might fail me for no reason at some crucial moment.

Lastly, this TravelMate's relatively small screen and dense resolution might make websites and other content hard to read for some users.

Final verdict

The Acer TravelMate P645 is a fine budget option for business users. If any configuration of this notebook falls within your (or your company's) price range, there's no significant reason against choosing the TravelMate over its pricier competition.

If you can enjoy its quality feel and reassuring security features, while ignoring its slightly irritating flaws, you'll have a solid tool on your hands. Otherwise (i.e. if you have the cash to spend), look to this laptop's more expensive rivals.

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